In this photo taken on Feb. 17, Pope Francis meets journalists aboard the plane during the flight from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to Rome, Italy. The Pope has suggested that women threatened with the Zika virus could use artificial contraception but not abort their fetus, saying there’s a clear moral difference between aborting a fetus and preventing a pregnancy. AP
Despite their staunch opposition to contraceptives, Philippine Roman Catholic bishops say they fully support Pope Francis’ remarks suggesting artificial contraception can be used by women threatened by the Zika virus.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Saturday also echoed the Pope’s uncompromising position against abortion, even in cases when a pregnant woman carries an unborn child afflicted with a deformity.
They said in a statement: “We, your bishops, reiterate church teaching: No matter that the child in the womb may be afflicted with some infirmity or deformity … it is never for us to judge who should live or die!”
The Philippine Catholic Church opposed a proposed bill that allows the government to finance and distribute contraceptives in Asia’s bastion of Catholicism. The bill was enacted in 2012.